Anna's Ashes
by oh.holy.martel
Summary: How Anna and Kratos could have been in our time and still turned out the same. Lloyd and others featured. Will involve school. Anna lost her parents when she was eight to a drunk driver, Kratos's father. Can you forgive someone for what they didn't do?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm going to warn you all, this once. If I'm brave enough this story won't have a happy ending. But it will get much, much better before it starts to decline, I promise. You'll see Anna defying Kratos and you'll see them in love. There will be plenty of everyone else fitted in, including Yuan and Martel. You'll see Kratos soon, on the first day of school. Anna took the name Irving with Lloyd from her adopted father.

--

Anna took her time unbuckling herself, even though the car was hot. She put a bookmark in her book and held it in her hand as she reluctantly crawled up past the driver's seat and to the truck's open driver's door, teetering on the edge for a second as the Virginia late-summer air walloped her in the face. She hadn't wanted to ever have to breathe in that stinking air again. Her parents had died with it in their lungs.

"Anna, stop being so slow!" Lloyd called from inside the house, terribly excited. Weren't fourteen-year-olds supposed to be _sullen? _ "The house looks really cool! Dad wants to know which bedroom you want, too, so he can put your suitcase in it!"

"I'm coming in a sec!" Anna shouted at her brother, jumping down from the car so that her flip-flops hit asphalt with a bump that rattled her ankles. "He already brought my suitcase in?"

Lloyd poked his head out the door, hair still mussed from the fifteen minutes he'd held his head out the window on the highway before Dirk had shouted at him to roll the damn thing up because he was wasting the air conditioning. "Yeah, he was carrying two. I already got mine. The boxes are here already, anyway – in case you were worried about not having things like clothes and toothbrushes since you couldn't fit them in your bag with all the books. Come on – you have to hurry up and choose a room so we can start unpacking."

Anna snorted. "Hurry up and choose the room I'll be sleeping in for the next two and a half years of my life, not counting visits home from college. I'm sure you've already made your decision."

"Sure I have." Lloyd pointed down the hall, nearly bouncing. "But Dad said you had to come in and give your opinion to make it official."

"Nice to know at least _someone _thinks of me," she grumbled, taking her first look at their new house. Dirk's friend had suggested it, the one who had asked him to move down here and be a partner in his metal shop and garage. Which meant he had to take his two adopted foster children with him, however uncomfortable coming back near their home might be.

Lloyd didn't seem to care. He probably barely remembered. He'd been – what, five? Six? – when they'd been killed. He'd barely spoken at all of their foster homes, been silent for nearly a year. Until their newest pseudo-parent came to pick them up and Lloyd caught sight of the only green dog either of them had ever seen.

It wasn't that bad, really. The boxes, plenty of them – Dirk had a habit of collecting fine metal work and figurines, and Lloyd had more collections that most people had strands of hair on their head – were piled haphazardly in the kitchen and the living room and the area around the front door, which meant they had to be dodged when trekking up the stairs to further living quarters. Lloyd barely seemed to notice as he bounced up them, looking at her with an air of someone offering a great and undiscovered treasure to someone who thought it was little more than trash. With a long-suffering sigh Anna put her hand on the rail and heaved herself up. She got to the landing and peered in the open door at Lloyd. "So, is this the room you want?"

"No way!" Lloyd said, gesturing at the curtains, clearly offended. "I'm showing you _yours. _Mine's down the hall, across from Dad's. You get the one with the girly curtains the old owners left and the purple-painted walls. Yours is bigger than mine, though."

"Gee, thanks," Anna muttered, digging her fingers a little more tightly into the cover of her book as she looked around. "I guess it isn't all _that_ bad." It really wasn't. The curtains were white lace and embroidery, something her mother would have scorned, which Anna still would have rather done without. Those could be removed, at least. The movers had already put the basic things like beds and couches in, so she was able to sit on it and bounce up and down as she examined the purple walls. They were dark, more like stormclouds or bruises than any color of paint in an interior designer's book, and made her remember the teenage girl Dirk had said was the only child of the couple they'd bought the house from. Obviously someone was suffering. At least there wasn't any wallpaper, and nothing else really ridiculous. Her chest of drawers and desk were already in there, so she could have her stereo plugged in by the end of the afternoon. It would do well enough if she had to stay here.

Anna dumped her book on the bed and got up, heading down the hall to see where Lloyd must have run off to. She looked in the master bedroom, which had a very nice bathroom connected en suite, but Dirk wasn't there. She figured he'd gone back out to the car to get more of their stuff or was downstairs, starting the unpacking. Or she supposed he could be ordering some pizza. It'd been a long drive and they were all hungry, and Lloyd ate with the joyful abandon of those who had elastic trash can bags for stomachs.

The door to Lloyd's room was closed. Anna knocked on it. "Lloyd, are you in there? Can I see your room?"

"Don't open the door!" Lloyd shouted, sounding absolutely terrified. Her stomach tied itself into little knots of worry immediately, the way every person's would if it was their job to protect their little brother. "Get Dad! And tell him to bring his boots!"

"Lloyd, why don't you just come out here if there's a spider, then? You can tell Dirk to come get it yourself," Anna said, well versed in Lloyd's very worst fear. "Just stop looking at it. You'll be fine. It's probably harmless."

"It looks like one of the poisonous ones, though!" Lloyd protested. "I can't come to the door. It's _on _the door. It built its web on one of the hinges on this side. I can't go near it. You've got to get Dad."

Anna sighed. "Fine. I'll be back in a second. Try not to panic." She ran back down the hallway past her new room and scrambled down the stairs, weaving between the boxes to get to the front door and outside. She jogged down the steps of their new porch. "Dirk? Are you in the garage?"

"'Course I am, sweetheart," he called, stepping out into the waning sunlight a few seconds later with a box in his hands, one of those filled with his old business records that were destined for the attic and storage. "What is it? Did Lloyd show you yer room?"

"Yeah. It's okay." Anna shrugged off the opinions of a teenager and said, "Lloyd's trapped in his room. There's a big spider web on the inside of his door and he won't come out. He needs you to come and bring your boots."

"That boy." Dirk shook his head. "Someday he's going to have to face his fears, but maybe not the first day in our new house. Put this box on the kitchen counter for me, sweetheart, while I go rescue your little brother."

Anna took the box. "Oof," she grunted. "This thing is heavy. You're already trying to clutter the kitchen counter?"

He laughed. "That's right." Dirk backtracked inside, through the garage, stomping for the boots he'd left in the kitchen. Anna followed, much slower. She felt bent like a turtle.

She heard his footsteps going up the stairs as she set the box down with a huff, pushing it on a little farther so it wouldn't fall and let loose all the papers. What was in this box, anyway? Well, there wasn't any harm in opening it, since it was probably just boring business papers. She hardly ever exercised her natural teenage curiosity.

Anna eased open the lid of the box, and pried out the first paper. It was a letter from the state, officially asking Dirk as a foster parent to at least temporarily take charge of their upbringing. She set it on the counter and moved on to the next one. The forms. Some reports on them, Dirk's observations.

**Lloyd may not like school, but he's finally started to open up to me and he treats Noishe like a stuffed animal, holding on to him most of the time and actually smiling and laughing a bit. He's the cutest little thing, really. When I check on him at night he sleep with Noishe, now, and his nightmares have gotten a lot better. Anna's different. She watches him like a hawk, and doesn't talk much either. At night she whispers the names of her parents. Most children scream, or thrash, but no matter how I leave her when I peek in she's on top of her blankets with her arms around herself, whispering. I'm worried about these two. They've been through a lot, and I've heard they used to be a really happy family. No one's told them about the trial. They think the man who did it is dead. I haven't said anything to them, because I don't want the poor dears to think life's even more unfair, and I don't think I will, either. I don't think I'll be taking any more kids in right now.**

Anna stared down at the words that she'd never see before, didn't remember, couldn't process. Whisper? She barely remembered their faces … and she hadn't been there to see the crash. Their killer was _dead. _Both of their early social workers had said so, that he was gone, that he was somewhere down below receiving his eternal punishment for the stupid drunken crime that took two lives that happened to belong to both of her parents, who had been happy, out for the first time in months since Lloyd had started to be afraid of spiders and think that they lurked in the dark, since she had promised that she would be a good big girl and help the next-door neighbor watch him. Dead. If he was still alive, when neither of her parents was ... with what he'd done to _her, _not to mention _Lloyd _–

She set the paper aside. There had to be more to the story. And at the moment it seemed like the entire hidden truth was contained, unshakably, within this box. The one Dirk had so casually handed to her.

Anna took out the next paper. It was more in Dirk's handwriting.

**Both of them are doing much better now, especially Lloyd. He's just outright blossomed. Always talking, always asking questions about things to me and Anna – he still doesn't quite get things at school, bless him, but he's finally making more of an effort. Anna helps him with his homework in the afternoons, at the kitchen table. I must admit I can't make head or tail of it myself. It's a good thing she's so smart. His nightmares only come about once a month, now, and today at the breakfast table he narrated a full-blown dream sequence involving Noishe being chased through a forest by nut-throwing squirrels. **

**Anna's different. She still hardly talks to me, and now that she can't look after Lloyd so much I don't think she knows what to do with herself. She's gotten him through three foster homes before this one and this is the first one he's liked. The others all had more kids, who tried to pick on him. Apparently there used to be some of that going on at school, too, but he's still little enough that he's got some friends now that his whole personality's changed. He said yesterday that he wanted to stop sleeping with a nightlight because it was babyish and slept completely fine, but I think he's still afraid of spiders. Anna never says anything about school and does most of her homework in her room before Lloyd comes home, and is always buried in some or another book. I think she gets them from the school library. She doesn't watch TV, except for Lloyd's cartoons, and those she calls babyish and doesn't laugh at. I don't know if anything I do can make a difference, at this point. She's got to figure out what to do with her life now that she doesn't just have to survive and protect her brother in a world without parents. **

**I don't know it she has friends of school, but she's brought one girl home a couple of times nearly every week and they sit in her room and giggle. She also says sometimes that's she's going to visit her friends and that she can walk there, which I think may be just a lie. I've tried to insist on driving her, but she just leaves. I think she may need the alone time to get it out of her system, to let herself go where Lloyd can't see. I mostly just keep an eye on her, now. She also has a journal she writes and draws pictures in. They're both recovering well, considering, but I'm extra worried today because of the high publicity for the trial. It's today, and Anna likes to read the paper, even the news sections. They probably won't have anything on it, though, since it's back in Virginia. And she doesn't watch the news, so there isn't much to worry about. **

**I hope that bloody bastard gets sentenced to life in prison. He deserves it, for what he's done to these poor kids. **

Anna was pretty much numb now. It was kind of funny, seeing as that was how she had been back then. The girl had been her friend, Marissa, the only girl in the class who had a dead mother. She'd died the year before last and people still avoided her like the plague, just because she looked sad since she wouldn't forget. And she _hadn't _been going to visit anyone each time she walked out. Just going to the old park, which was deserted, to sit on a rusty swing and feel the wind in her face, different here, farther northward, and hear the trees rustle with the souls of the dead. When Dirk had moved, three months before he'd adopted them, it had helped her change. If she pretended her parents lived in that grove it was easier to say goodbye, and then, to forget.

He'd again mentioned a trial. She'd read about the subject, learned more about it when she was older, and knew the most he could be charged with would be drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter, and possibly second- or third-degree murder. It would be extremely unlikely he would have gotten a life sentence. Which meant that he could be walking around, in this area. He could be in jail, waiting to be released. He could be eating prison food or showering or commiserating with the other inmates. He could be playing a board game, like Trouble or Monopoly, and winning or losing. Her father had been terrible at Monopoly. Her mother had been good at it, very good, which was understandable, considering she worked – had worked – in real estate. Lloyd had just like the little toy car and drove it around the board, playing with the spare pool of houses. Anna was a careful player. Her mother had always helped her out, teaching her how to do it better, how to buy things and keep them safe.

Anna wondered if _he'd _ever played Monopoly with his family. She wondered why he should get a chance to play it ever again, seeing as her parents couldn't. And they weren't the ones who had been doing things wrong.

The next paper wasn't a paper, at least not one of Dirk's; it was a newspaper clipping. Anna devoured it with all the single-minded concentration she'd gotten out of her parents' deaths.

**BARNES KILLER FINALLY RECEIVES SENTENCE,** the headline screamed. She read on. **The case has been in trial all week, with the prosecution trying to prove on the counts of two second-degree murders and the defense pleading not guilty to all but the charges of driving while intoxicated and vehicular manslaughter. At last the jury has released a verdict. Gregory Aurion, age 43, is convicted of only the first two charges; sentenced, consequently, to twenty-five years in jail on account. Parole is not forbidden after the first ten years. Much of the populace in the area who knew the parents felt concerned about the two children surviving, ages eight and five, who have been taken into foster care and moved to another area of the state. Many are outraged about the verdict of this trial. There is expected to be no appeal to a superior court. **

**H. R. Barnes, Court Reporter**

Two charges of second-degree murder, denied. Apparently the jury hadn't thought that someone who didn't deliberately set out to kill her parents hadn't done the job. Anna trembled. She shoved the paper back into the box, away from her, and followed it with all the rest, which she slammed shut. Too bad the knowledge, like Pandora's evils, wasn't going to leave her.

She heard Lloyd shriek upstairs. Noishe had gotten used to crushing spiders for him, but Altessa had taken him in for the week they had to move and wasn't going to drop him off until tomorrow, when Dirk went to look at the shop. Anna ran up the stairs to the sound of heavy something, still with the instincts from earlier years that left her at the beck and call of a lonely, frightened brother. "Get it, Dad, get it!" Lloyd shouted as she saw him curled on the bed, squeezing his eyes tightly together as he cowered. "Don't let it get near me! Don't let it get near me!"

Dirk moved another step down the wall to the cowering spider, which now had one of its legs bashed in, and slammed his boot down on it again. The thing skittered away nearly in time, losing half of its abdomen. No more silk-making for it. It still, weakly, tried to get away. The boot hit it again, and again, and another time, until the twitching mess of skin and vital organs hit the carpet and Dirk scooped it up, a gruesome trophy for a loved one. "There ya go, Lloyd. It's fixed now."

"Thanks, Dad," Lloyd said, opening his eyes with relief at the death of another creature.

Anna turned away before either of them noticed her, racing down the hallway to her room, where she threw herself on the bed. Her book dug into her side. She'd known this move wouldn't have any good come out of it. Her life had almost been a happy thing, forgetting, living with Dirk and Lloyd, pretending to have actual friends. Now Dirk wasn't who she thought he was and maybe Lloyd wasn't, either. How did you know? After all, for the last eight years she'd thought the killer of her mother and father was _dead_, like he should be.

Gregory Aurion.

She was going to learn to hate that name.


	2. Chapter 2

"We got out here later than I expected, so your school here is starting in about two days," Dirk said in between mouthfuls of – surprise, surprise – pizza, causing Lloyd to groan in horror and disgust and actually cease in his shoveling down of precious life-sustaining food for a moment to complain. He liked pizza but hated tomatoes, which was funny, because one time Anna had told him that pizza sauce was made with the tomatoes burned to remove their poison, like cashews, and ever since he'd believed it and refused to eat anything else with them in it.

"School! But Daaaaaaaad," he whined, putting down the pizza to cross his arms over his chest, "moving wasted the whole summer!"

"Then it's time to get a fresh start with the new school year," Dirk replied, looking at him sternly. "This isn't up to discussion, Lloyd. You need to meet new friends and start living here. Besides, being back in school will do you some good. You'll stop being so bored."

Lloyd looked at him. "You think school is _interesting?"_

Dirk considered this. "Well, I was never much for learning myself." He looked at him. "But you're getting out of the house, if I have to drive you there every day myself. At least you'll be able to meet new friends, Lloyd. Are you at least ready for the year to start, Anna sweetheart?"

"What?" Anna glanced up. "Oh. I guess?"

"Anna actually gets what they talk about," Lloyd whined, picking up his pizza again. "It isn't fair. Why are some people smart when some people just aren't, like me?"

"Because that's the way of the world." Dirk wagged a finger. "There's no use questioning it. You'd better eat the rest of your pizza, Lloyd, before it grows mold and attracts spiders."

Well, scientifically correct or not, _that_ sure shut her brother up. Anna returned to her slice of pizza and still churning thoughts. _Aurion. Gregory Aurion. I need to get to a computer, so I can look him up. I want to know more about the trial. _

Of course, they didn't have a computer unpacked, and Dirk hadn't yet gotten the house Internet. There was a computer at the shop, but he would never let her use it. The library? She didn't know where it was. But school libraries had computers, with Internet. It should be easy enough to get on one and use it before class, and she'd get to one within two days.

Anna relaxed, now that there was something she'd be able to do. She was almost able to smile when Dirk and Lloyd traded jokes. When they played a board game after dinner, seeing as the DVD player still wasn't unpacked and neither was the TV or anything to watch, she played less carefully that usual and used a strategy that smoked them both. The game wasn't Monopoly.

She wore her iPod a lot the next two days as they began the unpacking process, listening to music nothing like what her parents had played, things people were always shocked to here in the ears of their teenagers. Well, her parents weren't there to be shocked. And if there wasn't a melody, a lullaby, she didn't have to miss one. She could concentrate on her new purpose.

--

"I wish Dad would have driven us," Lloyd muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his old sneakers on the asphalt of their street's bus stop. There was just enough light to see the mutinous, worried expression on his face. "Or that he had gotten you a car. You've got your learner's permit."

"Lloyd, I turned sixteen last month," Anna reminded him. "Dirk's not exactly rich, and I wouldn't know where to go, anyway. You know he would have driven us if he could. But he's starting a new work with Altessa, or we wouldn't have had to move here. At least Noishe will be waiting for us when we get home."

"I can't believe I haven't seen him in a week," Lloyd said, looking up the whole. "I wish Dad would have just taken me to work with him. It's what I'm going to do when I grow up, anyway."

She looked at him, shocked. "Not even college?" She'd already had eight thousand dollars in her fund, by age eight, even though her dad insisted his little girl was so smart she was a shoe-in for a scholarship. Anna didn't know where her life was headed, but she knew it involved higher education. She didn't think her brother hated school _that _much.

Lloyd stared at the ground. "I don't _like _school. It takes me forever to understand things there. I want to learn to work on cars and be a craftsman, like Dirk."

"But that involves math," Anna said reasonably, adjusting the strap on her old backpack, which still had the keychains she'd brought back from vacations on it. "You have to do measuring of materials and things, and you have to know how an engine works to even attempt fixing it. You have to know how to give change and work the business accounts either on paper or on the computer."

"Augh!" Lloyd said as he backed away, eyes wide with fear. "Stop making my future involve learning!" He tripped over the curb, falling and bonking his head on the street pole. "Don't come near me! Stay away, alien teacher-person fiend!"

The bus chose the second Lloyd was flat on his back to start screaming down the hill. Anna rushed over to him as he scrambled up, hitting away her hands with a look of abject fear. "Oh God, Anna. I'm starting high school. I'm a freshman, at a new school, with no friends! I'm going to be _killed!" _

"High school isn't _that _bad, Lloyd," Anna said quickly as the bus pulled to a stop and the door hissed open, even though she wasn't quite sure about that herself, as a fellow high schooler with no friends who'd struggled enough starting at home. "Besides, if anyone gives you a hard time, you have leave to beat them up. Dirk doesn't mind."

"You do," he pointed out.

"Well, I care more about you starting high school than I care about whether or not you should be taught violence is the answer. Just try not to do it indiscriminately."

He paused to look at her, on the bus steps. "What does _that _mean?"

Anna sighed. "Don't hit them unless you have to."

Their bus was noxious and rattled incessantly, making her worry that by the time the month was out she would no longer have cheekbones in the same position. She was possibly the first high schooler to ever willingly sit beside their younger brother or sister on the first day of school, she was sure. But then again, Lloyd would probably be more popular than she was.

The bus ride wore on and Lloyd, who didn't have something to read or any desire to stare out the window and look at the dim, dull world, picked up a habit of shifting restlessly with his feet and knees, into the seat in front of him. This went on for several minutes, at which point he began humming. It was a tune without a tune that went something like this: 'Doo … dooo … doo … dum de doo …. Dum dum duddle-doo … this is so freaking boring … doo .. doo doo … doo …"

This continued for several more minutes, and Lloyd was still as bored as ever. His sister hadn't even heard him. She was too busy reading. Lloyd kicked a little harder. Doo, doo, doo, he didn't want to get to school …

"Do you _mind?" _A head poked itself over the seat, glaring. A head with actual white hair, though the person looked young and otherwise normal, though not really for a high school bus. A fellow freshman? "Can you stop fidgeting and being so irritated? I'm trying to read."

"Yeah, well, my sister doesn't seem to be having any problems with it," Lloyd said, jerking his thumb. He leaned over the seat and frowned. "Or yours. Do you suppose it's a guy thing? And what's your name?"

"Of course not!" the boy said, rolling his eyes at Lloyd's stupidity. "My name's Genis, Genis Sage. You know, like wise, which you clearly are not. Your sister's just used to your antics and when Raine's reading, she shuts out _anything. _It's inhuman. So, will you stop? I'm trying to finish this book. And shouldn't you tell me your name, too?"

"But I'm _bored," _Lloyd whined, swinging his legs from side to side and nearly hitting Anna. "This bus ride is taking forever, and I keep getting more worried about getting to school. I'm Lloyd. You're going to be a freshman too, right? You must be really smart."

"I guess." Genis said. "Raine's smarter. You're a freshman, too? Seriously? You don't look like one."

"I sure _feel _like one." Genis laughed at that.

"I feel like that too. You're new around here, right? I don't remember you from my old school. Did they give you your schedule?"

"Nah." Lloyd grimaced. "I wish. I'm gonna be totally lost. Just my homeroom teacher and number, y'know, the usual. Do you have yours?"

"Yeah. Let's compare."

Lloyd fished his out of his backpack, an old maroon one that had served him well that Dirk had bought after he had insisted Lloyd could not keep carrying his old tool bag to school. He traded it with Genis and looked at the new slip. **Callahan – Room 417 **was all it read, same as his. "Huh. They don't even tell us what this guy teaches. At least we have the same homeroom."

"What kind of name is Callahan, anyway? Raine said she didn't have him," Genis said, offering the slip of paper to him to trade back.

"Callahan? Someone to the right of them made a loud, obnoxious snorting noise. Lloyd and Genis looked over with wide eyes. "That bipolar, black-haired loser? The one who talks about your feeling for the entire class and then turns around to dump a mountain of homework on you? I feel sorry for you, freshmen. And not just because the only two beautiful women who are ever going to come near you must be those two lovely ladies I'm assuming are your sisters."

Anna looked up at that. She blinked, focusing on Lloyd. "What? Lloyd, can you keep it down a little?"

The boy, who they now saw looked definitely older than them and had an annoyed-looking girl wedged in on the other side of his seat, leaned over to extend his hand to Anna and grinned. "He should, shouldn't he? Hello, beauty. I'm Zelos. Zelos Wilder. You're Lloyd's sister?"

Lloyd, personally, didn't think that Zelos had the potential to listen to someone male for more than two seconds, much less eavesdrop and catch his name. Anna, looking confused, took his hand gingerly and let him shake it, making his hand look rather like an overambitious glove. Zelos didn't seem to care about this. "So, my gorgeous hunny? Mind giving me a name to put to a pretty face?" The girl beside him snorted loudly.

"Um … Anna. Lloyd's sister. You were talking to Lloyd … um, Zelos?"

"That's right," Zelos announced, beaming. "At your service. Can you nudge the lovely lady to your other side, brat? So we can all be introduced properly?"

"Sure, pervert," Genis muttered, rolling his eyes and covering Raine's open page with his hand. "Raine, stop reading for a second. There's an idiot over here who wants to be introduced to you."

Raine – begrudgingly – looked up, blinked. Lloyd had expected her to be wearing glasses. Her hair was white like Genis's, too, and her eyes were nearly the same pale blue color. Zelos gasped. "The library beauty!"

Genis looked at him. "What are you talking about? Do you have problems or something?"

"A lot less than you do, brat," Zelos snapped, looking past him. "I saw you last year, every time I glanced in the library. I've been wanting to meet you for a long time. Raine, your brother says? That's a beautiful name. I'm Zelos Wilder."

Raine looked at him a lot more sharply. If she'd had spectacles, Lloyd figured she would have pushed them higher up on her nose. "I've heard of you. The school player. Why are you talking to him, Genis?"

"I'm not!" Genis protested swiftly, shooting Zelos a dirty glare. "I was talking to Lloyd, and Zelos butted in! Trust me, I'd be a lot happier if he'd just go away!"

Anna, in the meantime, was looking at Zelos. "Womanizer? I'm not sure you should be talking to my brother."

"I'm not sure you should be talking to my _sister," _Lloyd exclaimed hotly. He knew this Zelos guy was a jerk!

"Who says either of you should be talking to him!" the girl on Zelos's other side said, jumping up hotly and revealing that she actually had red hair of a shade close to Zelos's own and probably wasn't his girlfriend, like Lloyd had thought earlier. "Zelos isn't a womanizer, anyway! Woman are just attracted to him! He has a terrible time of it!"

"Whoa, I never denied it, Seles," Zelos said, putting a cautioning hand out, "but then again, I don't like the term womanizer much either. It sounds like women are shoes or something funny like that. I prefer to think of each woman as a distinct and delectable beauty."

"And that only sounds like each flavor of ice cream," Genis muttered, rolling his eyes. "I'd say come on, Lloyd, let's get out of here, but we're on a bus."

"Wow, astute observation," Zelos said, rolling his eyes, just as the bus stopped. Genis tugged at his sister's arm, who had since gone back to reading her enormous book. Lloyd had thought _Anna's _books were big.

"Come on, Raine, let's get out of here. The pervert can fend for himself."

"Same to you, brat!" Zelos called after him. "And as for you, my gorgeous hunny, I'm always free!" They disappeared hurriedly down the aisle, which may or may not have had something to do with the way the people trying to get into the aisle were skillfully blocked by Raine's book.

Zelos watched her go with a look of blatant admiration. "That girl's got killer spunk – and legs." He turned back in Lloyd's direction, looking past him at Anna. "I'll be seeing you around later, my quiet brunette beauty." Zelos got up and held out a hand to his sister. "Come on, Seles, let's go see how many hot girls are in your homeroom class." He escorted his little sister off the bus, Seles taking the time to glare back at them from under her fringe of red hair and ridiculous hat.

"Jerks," Lloyd muttered. "I hope I don't run into him again. But that Genis kid was cool. I hope I can sit next to him in home room."

"I'd say I told you so," Anna said, repositioning her backpack and shoving him out into the aisle, "except I didn't tell you."

Lloyd looked at her pitifully. "If I said you could say it anyway, would you walk me to homeroom? I don't wanna get lost," he confessed.

"Of course, baby brother. And I told you so."

--

Anna found her own first period class with relative ease after dropping Lloyd off, considering that the crowd in the hallways had slightly thinned out. More thankfully, Zelos wasn't in it, and the teacher had out an assigned seating chart. And his best glaring face, which he repeatedly downed miserably in his cup of coffee. She had no idea what _that _was about. Anna was sitting next to an empty seat, so far, though on the seating chart the scribble had said Yuan Kaafei. Interesting last name. Interestin first name, for that matter.

She was allowed to say that. She used to be named Anna Barnes, and Anna Irving isn't as bad as _that. _

Someone had moved her before she'd gotten a chance to look at the rest of the chart, unfortunately. Anna liked learning people's names, as long as she didn't after to talk to them. There was always attendance, luckily.

The five-minute bell rang, and the teacher – Mr. Feathers, perhaps that was the reason for his constant ill humor – went over to the door and shut it with a bang. Apparently coming in less than five minutes early deserved at least a simulation of a tardy punishment in his book. More timid late students drifted in, who were only timid after they saw them. The teacher's glare had no mercy.

And, well, after Anna had gotten bored with watching students saunter in and then cower and pulled out her book again, which she hadn't gotten as far as she would have liked to on the bus, thanks to Lloyd and Zelos, the last students entered.

Anna glanced up, halfway assuming one was going to be her still-absent seat partner.

It was four kids, and by the way everyone _else _looked, there was a reason they smiled at the teacher with extra beaming charm. Anna personally found the only thing remarkable about the newly arrived populars to be their hair colors, considering the girl's hair was green and the one guy's was blue and the other's pretty bright red. They were still talking about whatever conversation they'd been talking about in the hallway.

Anna started reading again. Unimportant. The one with the pageboy blue hair dropped into the seat behind her, and waiting for a few seconds as his friends got into their seats just before the bell rang. That was probably a lucky break, considering that Mr. Feathers wouldn't hesitate to obey the letter of the tardy rule.

She slid the book under her desk, in case the teacher got a little too boring. Yuan glanced at her and grinned. "You're Anna right?"

"If your name's actually Yuan Kaafei, yes."

"Sorry, my mistake, Amelia."

Mr. Feathers stood up at the center of the classroom and cleared his throat. He raked through the current selection of the study body with his piercing gaze, causing the few people who'd thought a cellphone was a good idea to slip it gingerly back into their purses. Yuan chuckled, which pretty much spoiled her plan for reading and staying out of the danger zone.

The teacher cleared his throat. "All right. I'll be taking attendance now, and, of course, making positive you're all in your assigned seats."

Under his breath Yuan muttered, "And I'll be offering your friendly commentary, compliments of the 'get this guy laid before he kills us' fund. Let's start with the girl wearing the ugly glasses in the front row, top left corner, who has an unfortunate tendency to snort when she laughs that I discovered while working on a project with her last year about anteaters, which she apparently found absolutely _hilarious …" _

Yuan continued in this vein for a while, which was interesting, if bordering on rude most of the time. Anna was unruffled by it until he got to his auburn-haired friend sitting near the back of the glass and staring into space with his hand beneath his head. "And that is my personal best friend, Kratos, named after one of those darling children of Nyx and Erebus and luckily not related to that man-whore Zelos in anything but name history, Kratos Aurion, school's uncontested hottest hunk and dark, silent, brooding one – "

Anna jerked her head off, cutting him off. "_Aurion? _As in, related to Gregory Aurion?"

Yuan nodded, practiced. "You've heard about that? Yeah. It's his dad. Kratos doesn't really talk about him, and he doesn't like it if people bring up the subject."

"I should say not," Anna said, clutching her hand on the desk so tightly the whiteness spread from her knuckles in waves or rather veins, the way her blood was currently pumping hatred. "His bastard of a father killed both of my parents."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Spanish 3 online. Midterm time. Sorry …**

--

"Whoa," Yuan said, trying unsuccessfully to keep his cool and not to watch her. "You're that girl. I heard about you and your brothers on the news. They say that foster care transferred you out of state. My parents told me about it. Wow. Well, I guess that really must have sucked. So you just moved back here?"

Anna rolled her eyes at his pitiful attempt to change the direction of the conversation. She closed her eyes. "Yes. I didn't want to, but Dirk's friend Altessa opened shop and asked him to be a partner and so I didn't have a choice."

"Dirk? Is he your foster father?"

Her eyes opened again, hard. "No. He's my adopted one. That's why my last name's Irving instead of Barnes."

Yuan put up his hands. "Easy there, tigress. Don't kill me in place of a guy in a jail cell." Anna relaxed, even if she didn't smile. "Anyway, I guess don't really feel well-disposed about my friend, Kratos, do you?" She glared. "It isn't his fault. His mother was really shook up about it and he has to take care of her a lot, so he doesn't normally hang out like other people."

"Good for him." Anna rolled her eyes. "He only hangs out with his mother. I only hang out with my little brother, you know, seeing as the rest of my family's dead."

Yuan flinched. "Okay, defending Kratos time over. Want to hear something about Mr. Feathers? His first name's really _Aska _– I know, what kind of name is _that _– and he's married to the prettiest home ec. teacher, and out of school you practically _never _see them separate. I heard some students caught them in an empty classroom at lunch break once. He's always really pissy but when he's with her he's all cheerful and crap and it's really freaky, so maybe he's just a worrywart or insanely codependent? But seriously, Mr. and Mrs. _Luna _and _Aska Feathers?" _

Anna grinned at him. "Spoken by someone whose last names rhymes with _coffee_."

Yuan pouted. "I hate people with normal names. They get to lord it over the rest of us poor parentally tortured souls. Speaking of which, where does _Irving _come from?"

Anna looked thoughtful for a second. "Queensland."

Yuan's snort of laughter was so loud that he nearly received a detention from the glaring English teacher who'd just had the summary of his life exposed to another new student by his least favorite B English achiever.

--

On the way to her next class, that is, AP Trigonometry, Anna ran into Raine berating Genis in the hallway. "Just because your teacher says they used to teach physics and challenges anyone to ask them a question is no reason to have them try and calculate the trajectory of your new friend's paper airplane and see if they can dodge it – especially if you know it's going to crash into their face! You could have gotten a detention! You know how important your permanent record is!"

"Augh, stop shaking me, Raine!" Genis protested, holding his hands up and cowering against a locker. "It's not my fault he was an idiot and a blabber-mouth! Zelos was right! It was a perfectly legitimate challenge, and I did nothing wrong!"

Raine sighed. "That's not how the world _works, _Genis. And sooner or later you're going to have to realize that you can't just get away with mouthing off to teachers all the time because you're smarter than them. People get punished for it. And try not to alienate your classmates, either, will you? I don't want you to run into problems like you did in middle school. At least your new friend's a good start, even if he _did _go along with your little scheme."

"That was my fault," Genis muttered sullenly, folding his arms. "I suggested it."

"Which I need you to promise to stop doing," Raine said firmly, crossing her own arms and pushing back her enormous satchel. "Now give me your word, Genis. Keep quiet if you can't be civil and don't get in any more trouble. I'll see you at lunch."

"We don't have the same ones, sis. I checked your schedule."

She growled and gave him an exasperated smack. "I told you not to do that! Fine, then. I'll see you after school on the bus. Now _behave _yourself for the rest of the day. And the school bell ringing does not automatically allow you to let loose a retort."

"Fine." He sulked. "Can I go to class now? You're always telling me not to be late."

"Fine." She looked him squarely in the eye, then relaxed. "I'm counting on you, Genis. Now get to class." He hurried off and disappeared into the crowd.

Raine noticed Anna still standing there, plainly looking on, and blushed. Anna coughed uncomfortably. Quick, say something … "Lloyd threw a paper airplane in class?" Maybe not that … smart move, Anna …

Maybe not such a bad one after all, since Raine offered her a faint smile. "Apparently so. I don't know what he gets up to normally, but Genis is used to teacher trouble. He just doesn't listen to them. Honestly, I'm at my wits' end by now. I'm just glad we're in the same school again so I can keep an eye on him."

"Oh, no, he would have gone through two years of middle school alone? Without respecting anyone?" Anna knew the drill. She was a big sister. Before Lloyd had gotten his act together it had been a nightmare, and then he had been absolutely CLUELESS when girls started paying attention to him …

Raine grimaced. "It was awful. Normally I would have told him to take shelter behind the teachers, but he only liked two of them, and so the rest of the teachers didn't like him, either. His books and lunch box kept getting destroyed on the bus and so finally I asked the teacher that lived in the apartment next to us and was a friend of our father's, Mr. Bryant, if he'd drive him. He's the economics teacher here, and the middle school's just down the street."

"Was a friend of your father's? You mean your father's dead?" Anna winced. Even after over five years she still didn't know how to talk about anything like that. Avoiding the subject just reminded her of the idiot people who didn't understand at her parent's memorial service and actually saying it made her feel insensitive.

Raine nodded. "Yes. And Mother hasn't been the same sense, so I mostly look after Genis, even though I think he's starting to resent it a little."

"Well, they have to figure out what they're going to act like to the rest of the world sometime," Anna said. Then she burst into a fit of giggles. "I sound like a mother going through the teenage years!"

"What have responsible big sisters come to?" Raine slung her bookbag away from her hip and gazed at Anna more warmly. "Which direction are you going in? For that matter, what class do you have next?"

"AP Bio. The room's down the left hallway, I think." Anna looked at her. "What about you?"

Raine smiled. "Same. And that means we can eat together at lunch, to commiserate over our largely infantile brothers and that pervert who hit on us this morning on the bus. If we're lucky, we can even be lab partners."

"Hopefully," Anna muttered. "My last science teacher should have been an English teacher, the way she believed in the wonders of alphabetical order."

Raine winced in sympathy. "I've gone here for two years, and most of the teachers are strange. It really only amounts to luck."

"Here's to good luck, then," Anna said, coming to the door. She pulled out a book. "Have you ever tried high-fiving like this?"

Raine let out a snort of laughter before she could stop herself. She grabbed a book of her own out of her bag, raising it. "To good teachers and good luck."

Anna thunked them together lightly. "To good luck and good lab partners – "

Yuan and Kratos were coming down the hallway, hurried but still going at a slower pace than anyone else was known to, Yuan jokingly pointing something out to Kratos as he waved a hand at the left side of the hallway. Kratos remained impassive. Anna, who knew Yuan firsthand, didn't see what he saw in Kratos as an audience. He was entirely rude.

And his _hair. _He probably had inherited it from his father. Maybe they shared the same hair gel. Or maybe they argued about brands. There was no way it could stand up like that on its own, even though it didn't look like he cared one way or another. It didn't look like he cared about anything, actually, which was how Anna was sure his father felt about the death of her parents. Gregory might even resent them, having to go to jail for two people he'd never even met, just because he was drunk and had made a mistake.

A mistake that ruined four lives, if not those of everyone _else _who knew her parents. At least it might have made the day of her four dead grandparents.

Yuan noticed her staring at them and grinned in the worried kind of way of an ambassador related to both opposing sides that was trying to stop them from drawing a sword and duking it out on the ceremonial banquet table, grabbing Kratos' arm and rushing him over. "Anna! Raine! How nice to see you! Is this your next class?"

"Yes," Anna muttered, rolling her eyes, and putting her book away as Raine practically used hers as a shield while she recovered from the shock of being forcibly reacquainted with Yuan trademark exuberance. "That's why we were standing outside of the door, about to go in. I know this isn't _your _next class. I saw your schedule."

"No, it's down the hall," he said, a tight smile on his face. He gestured to the somewhat disgruntled-looking Kratos, which gave Anna the tiniest bit of satisfaction inside. He didn't like consorting with the lower element? Too bad for his perfect reputation. Yuan gave Kratos's arm a quick shake. "Actually, this is Kratos's class. I'd appreciate if you wouldn't kill him before lunch time. See you then, Kratos. Nice to see you again, Raine. I look forward to you tutoring me again. Anna, I mean it. Bye!" He removed his arm and hurried off down the hallway.

Kratos eventually turned back to them and raised a brow. "I saw you sitting next to Yuan in first period. What did he mean by implicating that you would apply bodily harm to me?"

Anna nearly laughed. My God, was he a joke? Who spoke like that? She couldn't get on a proper glare and so settled for a deadpan. "He meant that he was worried for your safety, obviously. I'm sure he'd be happy to clarify for you at lunch. Come on, Raine, we need to go test out the mercy of our new Biology teacher."

"At lunch you are going to tell me what this is all about," Raine hissed over her shoulder as she entered the room.

--

Raine stirred more salt into her applesauce and started opening the barbecue packet. Today was sloppy joes and apparently she considered each meal a culinary experiment, which she did ruthlessly. "I think I remember reading about that in the paper. No wonder you weren't exactly friendly, if his father was the fool who killed your parents."

Anna sighed into her chocolate milk. "If I went to church I'd be praying for forgiveness now. Dirk used to make me go, and Lloyd still has to. When you hate someone like this does it normally feel so uncharitable?"

"Yes," Raine replied dryly. "I feel it every day with my mother, when I have to figure out an elaborate way to get something done that she'd be able to do so easily or find myself outside of Genis's door trying to find ways to make him understand. It's gotten a little better since I got my driver's license this summer, but I had to borrow her car to go for my test. I drive it now. I take the keys so she can't go out and buy more medicine, but she still gets it somehow. She probably has a spare set."

"I still only have my learner's permit. It's just as well, I guess, since now I'd have had to re-register in another state – "

"Anna, Raine, darlings." Yuan swooped to a seat at their table, folding his hands and eyeing Anna expectantly. "Did anything in class perhaps happen that would cause Kratos to still be staring over her at you two and refusing to respond to a single query I ask, not to mention asking me about our freshly former relationship? He sounds jealous."

Anna looked at him. Skeptically. "Maybe he's gay and he thinks I'm making a move on you. His hair certainly looks the part. I spoke to him once, outside the classroom, and that's it. All he said was that he'd seen me sitting next to you and wanted to know what you meant by bodily harm, so I told him to ask you about it."

"In those words?" Yuan arched a brow. Anna reached over and smacked him. "Ow! You're just like Martel. And Kratos knows I like her, by the way, so your jealousy theory holds no merit."

"Don't do that. It looks like him. It may have been a little lengthier, but I didn't let loose a single threat. Promise. Raine was mediating the whole time."

Raine lifted her eyebrow. Anna began to wonder if that was the trademark of the school, or if it was something in the water. "I don't know about mediating, but she was perfectly polite. The tone may not have been exactly civil, but …"

Yuan nodded sagely. "That's probably it. Girls love Kratos. He doesn't care much for them because they're generally too clingy, except for Martel, who he's friends with. I don't think a girl's ever hated him on sight that I've ever talked to. He doesn't like being judged. I'd watch out for him if I were you. If you're too hostile, he might start hanging around …"

"Tell him now way in hell, then. I will beat him over the head with a book. It's bad enough I have to _look _at his stupid murderer's face."

Yuan sighed. "Look. If you knew his father …"

"I'm never going to know his father. I'm never going to get anywhere near him. Because he's locked up far away in jail when he should be dead for killing my parents, and his son's still walking around. And staring. And looking very annoyingly grim. Does he ever smile? Does he want me to wave or something?"

Yuan finally turned his head around to look. "I have no idea. Maybe if you ignore him he'll come over here and we can have a little talk. Stop looking." He turned back around.

Anna kept staring. "No way, Yuan. If I look down now it'll look like I have a crush on him instead of that I hate him. I'm going to wave." She pasted a sickly smile on her face and tilted her hand from side to side like a robot, eyes wide and definitely staring. Then she wiped the expression off her face and grimaced. "Ew. I can't believe I just smiled at him, sort of. I feel disgusting."

"Well, at least that did the trick," Raine commented, watching as Kratos stood up abruptly from the table he sat at with Martel and make a move to come over. "Prepare yourself, Anna."

"Prepare for what? Yuan, what are you doing here with these two ultra gorgeous beauties?"

Anna turned towards Raine to greet the face stuck in between them of the person she'd least want to see at this moment after Dirk, Lloyd, and of course Kratos himself, rolling her eyes. "Hello, Zelos. How have you been since this morning?"

He grinned. "Nowhere near as fine-looking as yourself, of course, but I've been all right. Got Seles dropped off and everything, and tomorrow my stupid car will be out of the shop so I can get to school in style. Yuan, why is Eyebrow Iceman coming over here looking like a dentist about to pull teeth?"

Yuan shrugged. "He's got a bone to pick with Anna. Speaking of which, how do even _you _gather an acquaintance with the new girl before first period?"

Zelos smiled widely. "My amazing charm, of course. It was good luck after all I had to be riding the bus today for Seles."

Yuan rolled his eyes. "Of course." He looked over Zelos's shoulder. "Oh, hey, Sheena, what time is karate club practice – "

"Sheena?" Zelos asked, perking straight up and starting to swivel. "Where is my voluptuous honey – "

"AAAH!" A girl in purple screamed as she tripped and toppled onto both of them, legs flailing around Anna and breasts ending up smashed into a stunned Zelos's chest. He got over it quickly, looking none appalled by the incident.

"Sheena, I always told you you wanted me that way – "

"Shut up, you stupid pervert! Ugh!" Anna scooted over quickly and the girl followed, blushing with the angry red shade that said 'Get-me-away-from-here-as-soon-as-humanly-possible,' glaring at Zelos in the meantime and raising a hand. "Don't you dare act so perverted!"

"I'm not the one that fell on me chest-first," Zelos replied, smirking and wiggling his eyebrows. "I always told you, my voluptuous honey, that we were meant to be – "

"S-shut up!" Yuan whistled in admiration while Raine and Anna watched in considerable satisfaction as Zelos was treated to a violent smack that left him grasping the red and throbbing side of his cheek with his hand. Er – the one attached to his _slightly _larger head.

Zelos yowled like a cat with a stepped on tail. "OW! What was that for, you violent demonic banshee?!?!?!"

"Y-you know perfectly well why!"

"They go on like this for hours, most days," Yuan said, leaning forward to begin a session of conspiratorial whispers. "I swear, I've never seen so much sexual tension between two people who don't know about it. Sheena thinks Zelos is just trying to get in her pants because she tripped on him freshman year and because she's a member of the True Love Waits Club, so she's off-limits – and Zelos thinks that he's just going after her because he's the Ultimate Conquest, but I bet he really likes her. His little sister, Seles, hates her because she thinks that she's another one of his hunnies, though, and because she's the only girl in school who's ever hit him – "

"I don't believe you've introduced us, Yuan." Whoa. The ice-man struck again. Pretty much everyone at their little section of the table glanced up at the arrival of Kratos, who was standing near Yuan's shoulder and executing a flawless use of the look he practiced before his mirror for hours every morning. He looked like he was constipated, Anna thought, glaring uncharitably. She had no idea what Yuan saw in him, much less the rest of the school that worshipped him as Mr. Dark-and-Brooding Popular.

Zelos, as always, was the first one to find his lost words. "Hey, man," he managed. "I didn't see you coming. How was your summer?"

"Uneventful," Kratos snapped curtly, not bothering to repeat the query back. He seated himself with a huff, raising a brow. "Well, Yuan? Well you at least repeat the name of the girl going to do me severe bodily harm?"

Yuan awkwardly cleared his throat, glancing at Kratos sideways. "Um. Of course.. Meet Anna, Kratos. She sort of hates you."

"Sort of?" Anna and Kratos said in unison, brows arched with skepticism. Anna looked at him with horror, snarled in frustration, mustered a glare, and got up from her seat to walk hurriedly from the cafeteria, which Kratos watched in what on his face could pass for shock. It involved his other eyebrow being raised as the sole means of alternate expression. Yuan shook his head and got up to go after her, Raine already hurrying. Which left a very awkward threesome at the lunch table.

Zelos turned to Sheena. "So … you wanna go make out?" She smacked him. Abruptly, Kratos shoved himself away from the table, stomping over to Martel and her crowd of friends, who he never sat with, where he seated himself and glowered at the adoring throng as she teasingly addressed him.

Sheena watched him go. "Wow. That Anna girl must be something, huh?"

Zelos wiggled his eyebrows. "She sure _looks _like something. Something scrumptious. Of course, no one could match you …"

SMACK! "G-get away from me, you pervert!" Sheena stood up and stomped away from the table herself, nearly tripping over one of the ribbons hanging down from her waist. Zelos gazed at his hands dolefully.

"And I'm left all alone. Well, there's only one thing for it …" He got up from the table, heading for a more-populated one. Drama was great and all, but nothing beat some quality time relaxing with his hunnies …

--

Anna paused at the water fountain in the hallway, standing unyieldingly upright as she slammed her hand down on the pressure pump, causing the water to jet out and splash onto the floor. Yuan swallowed his sick joke with a wad of nervous spit and took a spot beside Raine, on the outside, not wanting to get in the path of the fountain's spray. "So, I'm wondering what to say here …" His voice trailed off. It was like this with Kratos and Martel, too. Why couldn't he have gone for the nice, easy friends who always laughed at his jokes?

"Don't say anything. Unless you spent the last five years working on a machine able to forcibly uplift someone's facial muscles and want a test subject to unveil it on."

"Would it make you feel better if you punched him instead of the water fountain?" Raine asked calmly.

Anna sighed. "NO. He'd probably just stand there and look at me until I felt even pettier. Not to mention mean."

Yuan managed a weak sigh. "Oh, darn. And here I've been bragging about how many ways you were going to injure him."

She turned around to kiss him on the cheek. "Good boy. Keep it up. He deserves a good annoyance."

Raine watched her, averaging a careful smile. "Are you still going to eat your food, knowing he may have done something childish like spat in it?"

Anna shuddered. "Ew, no. Though I'd rather put that past Zelos than Kratos, considering. But thanks for the image."

Yuan pouted. "Now _I'm _not even eating. Martel did that to me once, except it was just her lip gloss. Gross. I can't even _look _at macaroni-and-cheese and sausage the same way."

Anna laughed. "And now Raine and I can't, either. Come on, Raine, let's go get our stuff and dump Yuan so we can figure out where our next classes are."

"Of course," she said, smiling, just as noise from a doorway down the hall was heard as someone sounding suspiciously like Lloyd shouted, "Genis is not an albino midget! Take it back!" and another boy's voice yelled out, "Make me!"

The teacher said something about remaining calm and apologies, covered up by Genis's voice, which said snidely, "Don't worry about taking anything out on him, Lloyd, because really? I think those atrocious glasses of his must be some sort of warped one-way mirrors."

"Why, you – " Lloyd gave a shout and scuffling broke out.

"Genis!" Raine took off running.

"Damn," Anna cursed, abandoning the water fountain to dash after her. Yuan looked after them, stunned, and turned in the opposite direction, towards the cafeteria. He had a feeling now was the time to start breaking in his new role as bag boy, as well as hopefully assuage Kratos before Anna did more damage than she ever would have thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I apologize. It's late. I finally just sat down and did it. The Kratos POV is for the reviewers that made me feel guilty.**

--

"Lloyd, I hope you know that there will be serious repercussions for this," Anna said, holding the referral and detention slip that had been sent home. She crumpled it in her hands and sighed. "Bad grades. Permanent record. Do you _want _to look like a hoodlum? Do you _want_ to work at Dirk's because you can't get a job anywhere else?"

"I'm going to work there anyway," Lloyd said sullenly, snatching it back from her and tossing it behind him. "It doesn't matter. I don't _want _to get in trouble, you know that. It's just …" He looked down. "I _like _people like Genis. I can't just stand there and do nothing while he gets treated that way, when he's a million times smarter and cooler and funnier than them. It isn't fair, but no one really cares."

Anna sighed. What happened to his smile, last year? She'd barely gotten used to it, after he'd gone silent when her parents died. Maybe she'd been neglecting him in the new house, caught in her ridiculous revenge quest against someone who was locked up. But she couldn't tell him if she wanted him to ever get back hope in humanity, so … what? "You're right, Lloyd. And I'm proud of you looking after Genis. Just … be a little more cautious, okay? Don't pick the fight. You know you can intimidate. And if you have to, do it outside of the classroom and the school grounds, okay?" She couldn't believe she was saying this. But she wasn't his mother and he barely listened to her, so how else could she keep him safe? "I want you to promise me that you won't fight over a few petty insults, Lloyd. Do you want the jerks out there to win? They're the only ones who are going to if you rise to their bait."

He looked down, subdued. "I promise."

"Good."

"Now, um …" Lloyd's foot scuffed on their new tile kitchen floor, "can we go over to Raine and Genis's house? It's only two neighborhoods over. We can walk."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea …" Anna said slowly, remembering what Raine had let slip about her mother. "You can't just barge in on people, Lloyd, not on the first day you know them. I don't even know why you asked where they lived."

"It wasn't like that! Genis just asked me where I'd moved into, and so I told him where, and he said that his house was only two neighborhoods over, since we were on the same bus and all, and so I asked where … and he told me. Honest!" Lloyd protested, hands in front of his face. Anna smirked at him, and he lowered them. "So can we go? I want to get his home number, anyway … "

"There's absolutely nothing preventing you from doing that tomorrow. At school."

Lloyd put on a pleading expression. "But I don't know it I'll have him in any of my classes tomorrow! And besides, you told me not to talk then. The hallways are all loud and crowded. We'll just walk over to say hello and if they're doing something, we can walk back. It'll be good exercise, and we'll get to see the neighborhood. C'mon, please?"

Anna broke. Because she couldn't stand not to make him happy if it was humanly in her power to do otherwise, even though she was worried about risking her fragile friendship with Raine by intruding or worse, humiliating her by seeing whatever made it so hard for her to keep a grip on Genis.

"Alright, _alright! _But if you make me lose my second friend here, I will so tell Dirk about the fight you got into at school!"

"That's totally unfair!" Lloyd gasped, staring at her in horror. His expression turned considering as the rest of her statement sank in. "Wait … _second _friend? As in, more than one geeky person has befriended you?"

Anna cuffed him in the head. "Yes, actually. He is a geek, though he's popular, too. And he's friends with a guy I hate. Wait – why am I talking to you about this?"

Lloyd thought deeply for a second. "Because I'm your younger sibling and we went through a traumatic past together and move around a lot and you love me very, very much and tell me everything?"

She scowled. "Somehow, I don't think that's it."

--

"I'm bored," Lloyd whined. "This is taking forever. Maybe we got lost."

"We _better _not have gotten lost," Anna warned, looking at him sideways. "You said you knew the directions. As much as I love you, I have a lot of other things I'd rather be doing than wandering around out here for several hours …"

"It's good exercise, sis. You never do anything but read. Plus, I think I just found the street."

"Good." Anna looked at the sign. "Elm Street or Filfolia Way?"

"Elm Street." Lloyd pointed straight ahead. "Come on. Theirs is the fourth down on the right, and Genis said that it's next to the one with green trim and white stucco, which apparently belongs to a teacher at our school, who actually dyes his hair blue. Weird, huh?" He scrunched up his eyebrows. "I bet he's better than stupid bald Mr. Koton, though. That guy is so annoying."

"Lloyd, you shouldn't speak badly of your teachers," Anna chided. "They have to put up with you two, you know. And your questions."

"Hey, they're supposed to _teach _me about interesting stuff, and if I don't understand whatever they're going on about the first time it doesn't mean I'm _stupid, _just that they explain it weirdly and I don't understand it like when you do – "

"Come on, Lloyd." Anna walked up the steps. "If we're knocking, you're knocking. Now ring the doorbell."

"I have such a helpful, protective big sister," he grumbled as he pushed it and the peal sounded faintly through the door, stepping back hurriedly. "What if there was a serial killer in there or something?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Then it would be your fault for leading us here."

"I love you too, sis."

Suddenly the door flew open, nearly whacking Lloyd on the nose and revealing a crazed-looking woman in a ratty green bathrobe, face looking almost like Raine's with the way she cut her silvery hair. "What do you want? Are you trying to sell something? If you are, I don't want it. I couldn't buy anything anyway. Not since my worthless husband died and left me with nothing but his stupid life support every month."

Anna stared at her in shock and trepidation, very much so. Father died in an accident … this, then, must be Raine's mother, Virginia. No wonder she couldn't drive Genis to school.

"We aren't selling anything," Lloyd said, brow furrowed in puzzlement. "Though I'm sorry about your husband. We're looking for Raine and Genis. Are they in?"

"Raine?" The woman squinted. "Raine's just a baby. And I don't know who Genis is. No one lives here but me, not since my worthless husband died." She drew her robe about herself. "Just who are you people?"

"Lloyd? What are you doing here?"

Lloyd spun around in surprise, trying not to look guilty, an unfortunate reflex of his, even if he was doing absolutely _nothing _wrong!

"Hi, Genis," he said, watching as Raine appeared around the corner of the block, carrying more groceries. "You told me where you lived, so I, um, wanted to see it. Anna and I don't really do anything alone in the afternoons, so …"

"I see."

Raine looked enquiringly at Genis. "You told your new friend where we live?"

"I – I – " he stammered, flushing. "It wasn't like I just told him or anything! We were talking about all the places he'd lived, and I asked him where he lived now, and he told me, and so I said that wasn't far from where we lived, and so he asked where, and so I said – "

Raine sighed. "It's okay, Genis. It's a natural discussion. I don't want you to feel like you have to be ashamed of where we live. Come on, let's go in the house."

"Wh-who are you all?" Virginia asked, huddling in on herself fearfully. "Why are you here? Little Raine's inside, asleep. You don't want to wake her."

Raine sighed wearily, walking up to the front step to stand level with her mother. "_I'm _Raine, Mother. Now stop talking like that, and let us in. Genis and I are holding groceries."

She moved aside silently, retreating from them all into a back room Anna assumed was where she slept. Raine and Genis put down their loads and quickly ordered everything in the kitchen, Anna and Lloyd both watching self-consciously. It was a very quick, awkward time before they were done, and even Lloyd could tell that Raine was the one that organized the kitchen.

"There, done," she said, balling up the grocery bags and taking them into the mud room. "Come on, Anna, Lloyd, you can have a seat on the couch …"

"Sorry about this," Anna said timidly. "We didn't mean to intrude. Lloyd just wanted to see where Genis lived, so …"

"No, it's great to have you come over." Raine sighed heavily. "But you know about my mother. I guess you saw her when she answered the door. She's still under the delusion that my father's just died and Genis and I are children still, which she uses as a device every time she gets frightened. In her room she keeps a baby doll and a stuffed mannequin with hair scribbled on it in marker in a little girl dress that she changes."

"That must suck," Lloyd muttered, not quite possessing the tact of most people. He looked at Genis. "Is she insane or something? I mean, how can she not notice how her two amazing kids have grown up? I mean, Raine's really responsible and Genis is really smart. Why would she want to pretend you're still little?"

"Thanks, Lloyd," Genis mumbled, blushing. "Thanks a lot."

"It's because of the accident," Raine said. "Her mind snapped when she heard about Father's death. None of the medication the doctors give her helps. She's just … mad. But harmless. It isn't that bad, really." Her shoulders shrunk in on each other.

"Yes, it is," Anna answered firmly, taking her by the shoulders and looking at her. "Lloyd and I lost both our parents when they died. You lost your mother when your father died, too, only it's worse because she's still here and looks like her. Things like that hurt. You need to get out of the house more. Why don't you come over and help Lloyd and I unpack?"

Raine bit her lip. "But Mother might get into trouble …"

"C'mon, sis," Genis pleaded, tugging at her, "we can tell Mr. Regal to keep an eye on her if she wanders out of the house or something. It'll be fun. Please?"

"Well, okay. If you two really need help with your unpacking."

--

The afternoon turned into dinner, which turned into a movie after it, because Genis was a genius with electronics and had managed to re-rig up the TV. The movie, sadly, was an action movie and pretty darn boring, so Raine and Anna escaped up to her room to talk about things.

"So …. Kratos?" Raine asked. "Pretty bad luck that the guy who happens to sit next to you in your first class is his best friend, huh? Yuan's pretty cool. I mean … a little annoying, but …" she blushed.

Anna grinned. Talking about Kratos wasn't fun, but a friend with a crush she could handle. "You like him, don't you? You liiiiiiike him. Well, I guess he is sorta cute. And anyone willing to grab a girl's bags because she refuses to re-enter the cafeteria has to be a good person."

Raine frowned. "I wouldn't say that I like him, per se. He's just reasonably clever and attractive. Besides, he's had a crush on Martel since before the first grade. She'll never fall for him, even though they're friends, but he doesn't date …" she trailed off hopelessly.

"Don't worry," Anna said soothingly, flopping back on her bed and stretching her arms out. "Yuan isn't stupid, you know. Eventually he'll realize that he can't be with her." She sat up in grinned. "Besides, who _wouldn't _want you? You're intelligent, beautiful, responsible, caring, self-assured, independent, helpful, informative …"

Raine threw a pillow at her in a decidedly non-"helpful" and "caring" manner, blushing again. "Oh, I'm sure – the day Yuan asks me out is the day you and Kratos are found kissing in a supply closet."

"Then I'm very sorry for you," Anna told her, perfectly straight-faced. "Now, can you _believe _what Yuan told me about my English teacher and what he and his wife do on break in the broom closet?"

--

"Kratos, where are you going?" his mother asked, leaning in the door as the porch lights caught his retreating back. He froze, straightening.

"Nowhere in particular, Mother."

She sighed. "Kratos, there's no need to be so formal. Your father isn't here anymore. And you never go just 'nowhere in particular.' "

Actually, he did. He had always like to wander the neighborhood at night. Tonight, however, he did have a specific purpose, and somehow she sensed that. His hands tightened in his jacket. The girl's face was burned into his mind. How could she be that angry – at _him? _As if _he _were his bastard of a father? He couldn't sleep. He couldn't stand of being thought of like that. He needed Yuan to prevent him from doing something rash. But first he had to get past his mother. "I'm going over to Yuan's house. I need to talk to him."

"After curfew? I told you that you didn't need to spend the entire afternoon helping me."

"I didn't need to go see him until now." Kratos didn't turn around. _Just let me go … _"I was busy. I wasn't thinking about it."

"Oh." He knew he could see his mother shrink in on herself if he turned around. She was so happy these days, so free … it broke her heart that he wasn't. But he couldn't change the past, and he couldn't shake that girl's face. It had been his father who'd caused all that pain. "Well, then … if you need to talk to him … that's fine. But remember, you have school tomorrow. And … I'm here for you, too … if you ever need me." _Like she couldn't be before. _

"Thank you, Mother. I'll be back before midnight." Kratos was walking before she closed the door, running after it. Yuan's house was just down the street, back-to-back with Mithos's and Martel's. That's how they'd become friends, when his and Yuan's ball catapulted into their yard.

When he got there, he climbed the tree outside of Yuan's window – Martel joked that Yuan's big, strong girlfriends could sneak up it in order to take him out on dates – and flicked pebbles at the window, startling him awake. Yuan's blue hair was faceplanted in the strewn papers of what he swore someday was going to be a graphic novel, snoring. Kratos knocked harder, and he jerked awake. "Wha - ? Kratos?"

He came over and opened the window, letting him slide in. Yuan yawned. "Dammit. I knew Anna would make you come here, so I was working late but then I fell asleep anyway … too much partying this summer, I guess. I heard there's one tonight, but Martel refuses to go to any before at least a week is up since Mithos needs his rest and study time, which means we'll be going to Zelos's pool party bash bonanza. I hate that thing. Need to talk?"

"How can she hate me like that?" Kratos asked, running his fingers haphazardly through his hair. "How? We've barely exchanged words."

"Because she thinks you're like your father," Yuan said, meeting his eyes squarely. "Sucks, but it's true. I overheard her and her new friend talking. She just found out yesterday that your dad survived the crash. Obviously she's a lot angry and a lot hurting. She doesn't know what your father was like. So she thinks of him like … like you." He took a deep breath. "I tried to talk to her. I know how it reminds you of … him."

"I remind even my mother of him," Kratos replied, pacing the room. "I can see it sometimes, when she looks at me, thinking that I look just like my father. I hate him! Why couldn't he just – " His shoulders shook. "Leave me alone? Why can't she?"

"Because that's the way life is." Yuan clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Life, such as it is, sucks. And you'll have to talk to her eventually. I suggest the pool party. And if you want her to understand … take her to meet your mother."

"You think that'll work?"

"Trust me. I know what I'm talking about."

Kratos snorted. "And yet you cannot get a girl to save your life."

"I can too!" Yuan exclaimed, shocked. His shoulders sagged. "Every girl but the girl I _want _…"

"I believe you're right." Kratos put his hand on the windowsill and looked out. "Life, such as it is, sucks."

"Damn straight it does. And, for the record, you just stole my line."

"…"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you so much for all of the reviews. I didn't give you the first cliffhanger I wanted to, which meant you got to see Mrs. Aurion speak and I missed some of the Ghost Rider movie my brothers are watching. Hopefully this is sooner. I had algebra and a barbecue at my grandmother's house, so … **

**Consider yourselves lucky, okay? I told myself this before Midnight Escapades, my newest story. **

--

More classes, more homework, more teachers, more avoiding Kratos or storming away from him. Anna and Raine found a great little circle of trees to eat lunch outside school so they wouldn't have to see him in the cafeteria, and promptly ordered Yuan to make sure he wasn't found sneaking there. It didn't work, because then Mithos found them and got Martel and she and Yuan had a humongous shouting match about "Hiding friends from her because he didn't want her to be around" while Kratos stood impassively in the background, Anna glaring at him.

When they moved back into the cafeteria Sheena ate lunch with them and Zelos did most days, too, providing plenty of comic relief. The Kratos problem grew so bad that they nearly banned Yuan from the table. It made Anna boil inside. Why was he always _staring? _Going to kill her like his father killed her parents? Somehow she doubted it. It was his stupid eyes that did her in. They were always so _cold, _so _reproachful, _like somehow he expected her to care, or at least not hate him.

Stupid idiot. He was worse than Zelos, or anyone else for that matter, and she left every room except class and the cafeteria when he was in it. He'd picked up her book once in the hallway when she'd dropped it, and she'd had to _thank _him. Because her mother never would have wanted her to be impolite. Even to … well …

Zelos's pool party should have proved a welcome distraction. Of course, the weekends were supposed to be Kratos-free time, and …

"What do you _mean _he's going too?" Anna snarled, ripping her sandwich into pieces. "I was looking forward to a weekend _away _from him! There's no way I'm going!"

"But Anna, hunny," Zelos protested, drawing back as if mortally wounded, "it's my birthday party! Surely you'll come to the birthday party of the great Zelos! I'd die if you didn't! Die! And how else will you get me my present?"

Anna looked at Raine and Sheena, grimacing. "Guess what, Raine and Sheena. Apparently not only do we have to go to Zelos's party, we have to go present shopping."

"Oh, joy," Sheena answered, looking murderous.

"At least Lloyd and Genis get the evening free," Raine muttered.

"Just get him what I always get him," Yuan advised, tapping his fist on the table. "A care package of his favorite expensive shampoo and cologne and some cond – ah, maybe not. Forget I said anything."

They looked at him. Anna wasn't willing to let him off the hook just yet. "Yuan Kaafei," she said slowly, "don't tell us that you give Zelos Wilder _condoms _for his birthday?"

"It's a guy thing," Yuan muttered, head hung in shame. "You wouldn't understand. I'm going to escape to, ah, go back to, Martel and Kratos now. See you around." He backtracked hurriedly.

Zelos sighed. "It's a sad man who's afraid to own up to his extracurricular activities."

"It's a sad man who _has _that many extracurricular activities," Sheena said pointedly, glaring at Zelos. "I know what I'm getting you for your birthday."

"Tell me it has something to do with your sweet self …" Zelos whined, leaning closer to her. "Maybe a kiss … or something else …"

She smacked him. "Get away from me, you pervert!" They fell into bickering once more.

Raine glanced sideways at Anna, and she nodded. They packed up and left early, like usual, to spend some quality time in the hallway by themselves and possibly with Yuan, seeing as he had an uncanny knack for showing up. Anna leaned on a locker. "So, do you think we really _should _go? I mean, Zelos is always entertaining and it would be cruel to leave Sheena all alone, not to mention we really have nothing better to do, but … I'm not sure I could handle being in contaminated water …" Anna shuddered. The thought of being in the same pool with Kratos was a terrible one. Especially … she couldn't even imagine him in swim trunks. And he was, though she hated to admit it, popular and reasonably attractive. Seeing idiot girls fawn over murderer's scum …

"I think we should," Raine murmured, breaking Anna's thoughts, which was probably a good thing. "You're going to have to face him eventually. Why not now? Besides, it really is rude to leave a friend in dire straights."

"… Yeah, right," Anna muttered, playfully punching her on the shoulder. "You just want to see Yuan in a swimsuit."

"I – I do not!" Raine snapped, blushing.

"Raine and Yuan sittin' in a tree, s-w-i-m-m-i-n-g, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a freakish beast in a baby carriage …"

"Stop that!"

"I wonder what blue and silver make mixed together – "

"Stop it!"

--

"This was a bad idea," Anna muttered. She glanced at Raine and Sheena. "How did I let you guys talk me into this?"

"You bowed to the overwhelming logic of our arguments," Raine said. "Plus, you got distracted teasing me over … certain things."

"Like what?" Sheena asked, turning to look at them both.

"Like what kind of bathing suit she was planning to wear," Anna replied devilishly, grinning at Raine, who snarled and smacked her on the arm.

"So what did you guys get for Zelos?" Sheena asked. "I got him some of his stupid fancy hair gel. I figure he's going to use it for the next century, so it's a perfectly safe gift, right?"

"I got him a book on Renaissance art," Anna said, still grinning. "Particularly the paintings by masters who prefer an … ah … more _visual _style of art. Apparently he's quite a fan. What about you, Raine?"

"I purchased him a planner," Raine said dryly. "To write his dates in."

They all cracked up. It was a sad, sad business, getting presents for Zelos. Thank goodness birthdays only came once a year.

But there was Christmas … oh, dear ...

Maybe Dirk would let them move by then …

"Hunnies!" Zelos came bouncing over, wearing _the _most atrocious thing any of them had ever seen. What was it, a green spandex _rag?!? _"I'm so glad you could make it! And you brought presents! You can put them in the pile on that one chair over there," Zelos said, pointing at a giant pile heaped in the corner on a beach chair. It was probably the driest place in the room, considering Zelos had rented the top floor of an apartment complex for a pool giant enough to host the junior and senior class and maybe even a few pretty sophomores and freshmen. There were already a ton of people there. Of course, Yuan and his friends were always fashionably late, so no Kratos yet. A very good thing.

"Great," Sheena said, and they all turned awkwardly to go put them on the pile, not helped any by the way Zelos insisted on following right beside them. "Um, Happy Birthday?"

"You care!" he practically shouted, smiling. "I knew you did! That's the greatest present possible, Sheena sweetheart, even though if you _really _wanted to wish me a happy birthday I could think of a few things we cou – "

SMACK! "You pervert! Why do I even bother trying to be polite?!?!?"

"Aw, Sheena, don't be that way. After all, you know that you really want me – "

SMACK! "Shut up, you idiot!"

Anna and Raine dumped their presents on the bright and oddly-appointed pile. "Plan B?"

She nodded. "Definitely. I told you we would need the bags."

They had come up with three plans for the day, on one of their phone calls preleading: Plan A, joke around with Sheena and Zelos and try to have fun, Plan B, sit on beach chairs somewhere reasonably secluded and read, and Plan C, go home, rent a movie, and order in some pizza to share with Lloyd and Genis. Raine, despite coming to the party, would under no circumstances be coerced into the water. Anna couldn't say she was too eager herself. Yuan had informed them that Zelos always had a pull party because, quote unquote, 'All the girls look better wet since it makes their … ahem … _assets _stand out that much more …'

Thank the Lord for pool chairs and books. Books other than collections of Renaissance art, that is.

--

"Well, here we are," Yuan said in his falsely bright voice, surveying the room of pool-ific mayhem. Zelos was too busy to come greet them, busy being chased by Sheena throughout the pool, currently trying to doggy paddle in the deep end and shoot past her by kicking off a wall. "The annual pool party."

"Why do we go to this again?" Martel muttered. "Mithos isn't even allowed to come."

"Because you are allowed to, once again, exert your unalienable superiority over all females present here and see me and Kratos in a swimsuit?" Yuan answered. Martel smacked him.

"I must go because I'm insane. No other reason could be responsible for this much suffering." She went off to the side of the pool, both to show off her bikini and watch Sheena get the better of Zelos.

Yuan nudged Kratos. "Notice Anna yet?"

"Of course." She was in the corner reading with her one silver-haired friend, both completely dry. Kratos suddenly looked – at least, for him – unsure. "Do you really think this is the appropriate time and place to go talk to her?"

"Do you have a better one?" He shoved him, unsuccessful in budging Kratos so much as an inch. "Come on. Go get 'em. Unless you _want _to spend the rest of the year being glared at?"

"Most attached males already do that," Kratos muttered snidely as he strode off, uncomfortable about facing anyone in nothing but these ludicrous swim trunks. He swore he had no idea why he'd ever gotten into them. Something about his Mother and Yuan's insistence about "actually swimming." He'd tuned it out. He'd been trying to mentally prepare himself.

If only it had worked.

--

"… Hello," someone said stiffly, someone sounding like … wait … what? Nothing in the book she was reading. Anna shook her head and glanced up, into the face of … Kratos. What the hell was he doing _talking _to her? Was her dislike and obvious animosity not clear enough? Had he forgotten who exactly had caused the car accident that had killed both of her parents?

She bent down to her book again, studiously ignoring him. She knew Raine was watching now. Hopefully she'd be able to get rid of him if he didn't go away.

"Hello."

Apparently he wasn't going away. Stay cool … don't say anything …

He ripped her book out of her hands. "Excuse me, but I'm talking to you. I'd prefer it if you paid attention."

Anna grabbed it back and rose it in front of her face again, saying, almost bored-sounding, "Yes, and I'd prefer it if you would refrain from talking, especially to me. I'm reading. Hence the book."

Kratos ripped it from her hands again. "I'm afraid this is considerably more important than the activities you perform at your leisure." He tossed it on a chair two seats away from her, too far for her to reach. "I need to talk to you. Preferably somewhere in private."

"I need you to go away," Anna mimicked. "Preferably somewhere sunless."

"Are the insults really necessary?"

"Is this conversation? You already know that I hate you."

"Because of my father."

"Because of what your father did."

"You can blame a child for the parent's sins?"

"The same way you can take away a child's parents, yes."

"I didn't take your parents."

"And yet they're gone."

"This is ridiculous."

"_You _are ridiculous. Why did you _ever _think I would want to talk to you?"

"I didn't. I just presumed that, as a human being, you would at least give me a _chance _to explain my side of the story."

"Wow, implicating I'm not a human being." Anna got up, staring at him hard. If only he wasn't so much taller than her. She walked over to the edge of the pool, sitting down by it. Luckily, he followed. "What happened to the no insults policy? Never mind. Let's see if _you're_ human. They say witches melt on contact with water. Maybe demons do too." She scooped her hand down in the pool and splashed him. The droplets dripped down Kratos's cheek, falling onto his chest. He stared at her oddly.

Raine picked up her book and edged away, getting off her chair. "I think it would be wisest for me to leave the area." After that, Anna lost sight of her.

She watched as Kratos went over to the refreshment table, where they had a few buckets of ice with the soft drinks, emptied it out, and stooped at the edge of the pool. He lifted it up, full with water. Anna's eyes widened. "You _wouldn't …" _

Kratos soaked her.

It was cold. Cold, unpleasant, wetting the hair she'd have to spend a half-hour brushing, and _not _going to go unpunished. Anna looked at the bucket, came a little closer, to look like she was going to grab it from him, and …

… used her foot to shove Kratos Aurion into the deep end of the water. There were shocked gasps around the area, the foremost being a group of previously giggling girls who had been chatting at the 8 foot line. Zelos and Sheena looked up from their antics, eyes wide. Yuan made a panicked face. Martel looked impressed.

And Kratos …

He pulled himself out, dripping, of the water. He stood beside her. And then he picked Anna up – and despite her struggles and shrieking – carried her calmly to the very edge of the deep end, over the darkest, most ominous water, got up on the diving board, ignoring the line of people there, and held her over it. He was wet, and she hated being pressed up against his stupid flat-chested wet skin.

"You wouldn't _dare."_

She could have _sworn _the bastard was smiling as he answered. "On the contrary, I would. I think you, Anna, might benefit from a bit of cooling off."

And he tossed her in. The resultant splash was deafening.

When Anna splashed to the surface, shivering, disoriented, and pissed beyond all reasoning, the water in her eyes made all the fuzzy blobs she was seeing look red.

So it was entirely understandable if, trying to find a good grip to clean her eyes out, she accidentally reached up to the diving board and swiped Kratos' self-satisfied feet out from under him, causing him to topple into the pool with an even more magnificent splash.

--

"I still can't believe he'd dare," Anna muttered, watching out her window. She couldn't sleep. Her friends' laughter still hung in the air. They couldn't believe she'd done it to Kratos the great, the stone, the invulnerable, nonetheless that he'd responded and that they'd had a water fight. Idiots.

There was nothing special about him.

Something tapped at her windowsill, making her look down. It was _him. _He was wearing a jacket, and poised to throw another rock at her window. He raised an eyebrow. Apparently he understood everything was so implicit that there was no need to mime opening the window.

Anna opened it anyway. She had a bone to pick with him. "What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed. "I would have thought kicking you into the pool twice would have been a clear enough refusal for a conversation."

"I still need to talk to you." He looked unimpressed. "Come to the door. I need to show you something."

"Why should I? I'm trying to sleep."

Anna could have sworn he sighed. "Then I'll break your window. Just come down, please."

"Fine. Just for the record, I hate you."

She didn't bother to change into anything or adjust her hair, because she planned to drive him off as soon as possible. She emerged at the door less than a minute later. He was already waiting. "What do you want?"

"Hello." He looked supremely superior. "That is generally how someone greets another person. I told you, I need to show you something."

"It's also considered impolite to throw rocks at someone's window in the middle of the night. I told you, I'm not going anywhere."

"Fine, then." He grabbed her wrist. "I need you to listen to me. I have a gag here. If need be, I will carry you. It isn't far."

"Fine." She broke apart from him, glaring. "Can I at least get some shoes?"

"Of course. I'll come with you."

Idiot. Insane, psychopathic idiot. Of course, she couldn't risk waking Lloyd or Dirk, because they couldn't know why she hated him.

They started off walking. Now that he'd gotten her out of bed and into the night, Kratos didn't seem too inclined towards conversation.

Finally they stopped. He gestured, looking as emotionless as ever. "This is my house."

Anna was exasperated. "I'm so happy you know where it is. Now, _what _do you need to show me _here?" _

"My mother." He led the way up to the front door, ignoring the obvious questions lingering in the air. Anna refused to ask them. She followed him.

Kratos opened the door. His mother was sitting at the table, reading a book. She looked up when they entered. "Kratos, you're finally – " She stopped, unsure of what to make of what Anna assumed she saw was the stranger girl in pajamas. "Um … hello?"

"This is Anna, Mother." Kratos waved a hand. "Anna Barnes. Her parents were the ones killed in the car crash. I need you to tell her about him, Mother. Tell her about Father. I'll be in my room."

"Oh … yes." She sighed. "I … knew that someday, someone would come seeking answers. Sit down, Anna. Let me get you a cup of tea."

Kratos nodded curtly. "Thank you. I'll be in my room."

Anna waited mutely while the water was boiled and two cups of tea were made, sipping hers and grimacing the slightest bit before turning her attention back. Mrs. Aurion sighed.

"I suppose it's just like my son to drag decent girls out of bed at any hour of the night. He didn't even let you change. I'm sorry, dear. That is, Anna? Anna Barnes?"

"Anna Irving, Mrs. Aurion," Anna mumbled politely, taking another sip just for something to hide her mortified face. She should be feeling hatred now, be overwhelmed with the desire to throw her cup of tea in the face of the murderer's wife … but she just felt embarrassed about the state of her pajamas, and determined to be on her best manners. Mrs. Aurion just didn't _look _like someone who would ever, ever condone such a brutal, impolite thing. "My brother and I were adopted. We took our adopted father's name."

"Oh. I see." She looked a little unsure of what to say. She took a sip of her tea and blew on it, looking pained. "Well, I suppose I should get to telling you about Gregory … ?" she hazarded.

"Yes. Please. I need to know."

Until that moment, she hadn't realized she did.

"Well, here it goes. Hopefully I don't leave something out. You know Gregory was drunk one night and drove out and he wrecked into your parents, but you don't know what he was like normally. The drink wasn't a one-time thing. He had other offenses on his record, for drunk driving and the like. Once he'd almost been charged with an injury lawsuit. He paralyzed someone. It was … bad. He was bad, too, at home, with the drinking and the dissatisfaction with whatever Kratos and I did. He … hit me, when it got particularly bad. He yelled at me, too. He did the same to Kratos. Kratos … took it harder. I couldn't protect him. _He _felt the most broken up by the fact that he couldn't protect me." She winced. "You know, Kratos has a scar on his collarbone? He might show it to you. Kratos got it from his father. He threw a vase at him, my mother's, and one of the pieces left a scar as it shattered. Things like that happened frequently. When he went out and didn't come back, and we heard the news that he'd gotten in that car crash … I was so relieved. I feel so terrible about it, when I heard about your parents, about you two, the cost of my son's and my freedom was those lives … I had to testify at court. You two weren't there, and I thought I had escaped my punishment. Even when he was sentenced, even when I made the house over into my name, even when I knew he wouldn't be coming back, I felt guilty. Because of you two. Because of the happy lives he'd ruined to do the same for Kratos and I." She blinked away tears. "He still tries to protect me. He doesn't know what to do. I haven't heard about you, but … I guess you've noticed how much he looks like his father. I still flinch sometimes, when he looks angry. He hates it. He hates people thinking he's like his father, more than anything else on earth. It eats him up inside. When he was little, he was such a sweet boy. I loved him to pieces."

"His father changed it. He told him he was a 'sissy.' He hit him. Withheld meals. Told him not to show anyone his emotions, no matter what. Not to take no for an answer. How do you think he could the way he is now? He finally stood up to his father, over me. And then Gregory left. He didn't know what to do. I still worry about him, because he won't tell me anything anymore, because he doesn't want to worry me. I'm so grateful for Yuan, Mithos, and Martel, his best friends. They've helped him more than I ever could. I'd just like to say … I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what my husband did to you. Do you know Kratos went to visit him, once, after his conviction? Only once. After it, he came home, as blank-faced as I ever saw him, and never went back. He never said anything about it. _I _certainly never went to visit. I wouldn't dare. I never want to see him again."

She stopped speaking. Anna didn't know where to start. It was so … this was so … she never thought she'd be beyond hating someone. She never thought she'd feel so numb. She'd been wrong about Kratos. So … what was there?

Perhaps an apology for the water fight?

Mrs. Aurion smiled. "You should go speak to him. I'm sure he's eager to explain."

"Oh." Anna stood up, bowing her head to her out of reflex. "Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry to barge in so late at night."

"Don't worry about it. It was nothing."

And so Anna went to find Kratos.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Here you go. It's very late, and I'm sorry for that, but, well … I got a review that called the story cliché despite the fact the author was putting the story on Story Alert, and frankly, it disheartened me. Why would I want my story to just be substance for someone's halfhearted amusement? So I got sidetracked by light and have, in fact, not touched one of my stories in months apart from posting Linar's Quest and, just yesterday, another chapter of Midnight Escapades, though you should expect updates to many of my other stories soon.**

**I'm sorry. Finally, finally, I present to you the Anna/Kratos scene. Enjoy if you wish.**

--

Anna made her way to Kratos's room, now more acutely aware than ever of the fact that she was still wearing her pajamas. She knocked on his door.

Kratos opened it. She supposed getting up was easier than actually saying the two words "Come in" required, much less projecting his voice. He mutely stepped back to let her in, closing the door firmly behind her.

Anna stopped where she was and used the opportunity to survey the room. It was … bare. Emotionless. Frankly, it looked like either the combination of a hotel room and a prison cell or the property of someone like Kratos. There was a desk with a textbook, a folder, and a few sheets of paper on it, a neatly made bed with a stack of folded clothes on top, and a dresser bearing a lamp and an alarm clock. The walls were white and bare. There was absolutely nothing personal about it.

Though she supposed lacking personality _was _a form of it, in a way.

"You may sit down if you wish."

Anna looked at him. "Where?"

"The chair. Or the bed, if you prefer."

Needless to say, Anna took the chair, and Kratos sat down stiffly on his bed and stared at her. There were several seconds of unbearable silence and Anna figured it was her turn to make an attempt at conversation. He deserved an apology. She'd been unreasonable, extremely so.

Anna took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I had no idea what I was talking about. I read one article about your father, discovered he had killed my parents, and wanted to take it out on the world. You were just a convenient target for me to take out the anger in my life. I had no real reason to treat you like I did. Though I must admit you threatening to gag me and carry me up the street was _slightly _unreasonable."

Kratos actually showed a tiny hint of a smile. "You wouldn't have come otherwise. I _did _ask nicely first."

"If that's how you ask nicely I feel sorry for those you don't show such consideration to," Anna muttered, fidgeting uncomfortably. She was, after all, sitting alone in the room with her erstwhile greatest enemy and they hadn't exchanged a single insult yet. She had no reason to dislike or mistrust him, but still …

"_I _am sorry as well. I, too, misjudged you." Kratos took a deep breath and Anna's eyes fixed on him. "Yuan told me about why you disliked me so and I allowed my unhappiness with being branded in such a way to interfere of my treatment to you, giving you no cause to doubt anything you had heard. I was remiss in my actions at Zelos's party and tonight, though they were necessary. I would like to start over, if you would forgive me."

"I'd like that, too," Anna said, surprisingly herself. Then she grinned predatorily. "That's funny. You're saying that you gave me no cause to doubt anything I've heard? All I've heard around school is that you're a girl magnet, stiff, and hot, but don't date or show any interest. I've heard that you're possibly gay and in a relationship with either Mithos or Yuan, or that you're secretly dating Martel and don't want to hurt Yuan by letting him find out. Which part should I doubt?"

"All of it," Kratos said firmly. "You may judge my lips as you choose, as well as my temperament. I am most certainly heterosexual and have no intentions of any sort towards Mithos, Martel, or Yuan and would not act on them if I did, you may be assured."

"I didn't doubt it." Anna stood. "So, I guess I'll see you at school on Monday, then?"

Kratos rose as well. "Allow me to walk you home, please."

He opened the door for her to exit his room and followed her down the hallway. Mrs. Aurion was still sitting at the kitchen table, sipping her tea and reading an article at the newspaper. She looked up as they came in. "Hello, Anna, dear, Kratos. Are you leaving now? I forgot to tell you, I don't go by Mrs. Aurion anymore. I've gone back to my maiden name, Anderson, but there's no need to be so formal. Evelyn will be fine. Will you come see me again in the near future? Kratos, you're walking her back home, I trust?"

"Yes, Mother," he answered stoically.

"Good. It's the least you can do after getting the poor girl out of her bed at such an indecent hour of the night."

"Yes, Mother."

"I'd like to come and talk to you, Ms. … Evelyn," Anna corrected, saying honestly. She managed a smile. "Maybe I'll come by after school one day."

"I'd like that, dear. Walk safely. It's dangerous this time of not." Her eyes lit up. "Of course! I can just drive you home. Will it cause any problems with your foster father, dear?"

"No. He sleeps like a rock."

"Then I'll be happy to take you. Are you coming with us, Kratos?"

"…Yes," Kratos intoned gruffly. "If I may."

"Of course you can, Kratos."

--

"This is it," Anna said as they cruised up to her driveway. "You can leave me here. I'll walk the last bit. I don't want to be caught by my brother if he isn't sleeping well."

"I understand, Anna dear. Kratos, will you at least walk her up the rest of the way?" Evelyn asked, fixing her son with a stern look.

"Of course, Mother," he consented wearily. "I was intending to, in fact."

"That's my boy."

Anna got out of the car and shut the door, Kratos's mother's cheerful "Bye!" echoing in her ears. Kratos stood there, a shadow in the dark, and matched her pace effortlessly as they made their way down the driveway and to Anna's nearly deserted-looking new house. He didn't say anything, though Anna hadn't inspected him to, and with so much to think about Anna really didn't feel like attempting to carry on an awkward conversation.

Kratos stopped short of the steps up to her porch. Anna turned. "Goodbye. I'll see you on Monday. Thanks for … opening my eyes, I guess."

He smiled. "Thank you for helping awaken me to exactly how I tended to act among my peers, though there are no guarantees of change."

Anna held up her hands. "They're your only weapons against your fan club. I would never ask you to disarm yourself and willingly walk into enemy camp."

"I had no idea you were so concerned for my safety."

"I had no idea your room was so bare."

"My mother will still be waiting at the end of the driveway, so I suppose I must take my leave." Kratos shifted uncomfortably. "Farewell."

Anna stifled a giggle. Trust him to be formal even in _this _kind of situation. "Au revoir, then."

"Yes. Goodbye." Kratos turned, took a few steps, and stopped, looking over his shoulder, face strangely hesitant. "Am I allowed to bear you and Yuan company at your lunch table, then, perhaps?"

"If you can survive Zelos, sure," Anna said, snorting.

Kratos nodded. "Thank you. Thank you as well for listening to what I had to say and being so understanding even in such bizarre circumstances after your rude and abrupt awakening."

"It's fine, really." Anna gestured down the driveway. "Wasn't your mother still waiting."

"Oh. Yes. Until later." He proceeded back down the driveway and Anna forced her gaze away from him, searching for the spare key under the doormat. She inserted the key and turned it as the sounds of a car receded into the distance, stepping in to the darkness of the house and replacing the key behind her. She closed the door and locked it again.

Lloyd's door creaked as it opened from the second floor and Anna froze until she saw the furry green body slide itself against the railings of the stairs, padding down with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "Noishe," she whispered, voice swelling against the oppressive darkness. "Hi, boy." He slept in Lloyd's room, always had.

Noishe came down over to rub his head against her hands and whine pitifully as she petted him quietly. Anna stayed there for a few seconds, savoring the feeling of having the family pet to herself, for once, and then straightened up to head up the stairs to bed, brain churning. She was tired, and had been after the pool fight and a half-hour hash out recount of it with Raine, then retelling it for her brother … now she was even more so. Sleep. Not to wake up until the dead rose or burned to a crisp in their coffins.

Noishe followed her back up the stairs and didn't go back into Lloyd's room, instead following her into hers. Anna looked at him in surprise. She'd always considered him more of her brother's pet. She gestured to the door pointedly and he merely jumped up onto her bed, tale wagging, and nosed her pillow significantly.

Well, Lloyd had needed someone then, and she needed someone now. It was only fair. She curled up under the covers to the scent of his doggy breath and the heat of another body, falling peacefully asleep.

--

Kratos, throughout the journey home, was silent. He was, in fact, bursting with energy, and sometimes, when he forgot his control briefly, found himself _smiling. _Actually wearing an expression of unprovoked pleasure. It should have horrified him.

But Anna didn't hate him anymore. He was a good person. He was going to get to sit at her lunch table on Monday, and possibly say hello to her before school and walk with her to Biology. Who wouldn't be pleased at such an outcome to what looked like such a hopeless cause?

"May I please go over to Yuan's, mother?" he asked as they pulled back into the driveway of their own house.

"You're going to bother the poor boy at this time of night?" His mother sighed. "Can't you wait until morning?"

"Yuan sleeps until noon on the weekends, Mother. I am confident it shall not unduly inconvenience him. Please?"

"Fine. Go on, Kratos. I know you want to share the news. I'll be in bed if you need me." She turned off the engine and made her way inside, Kratos hastily getting out and turning down the street toward Yuan's house. He reflected that his mother had probably gotten a better guess at his motives towards Anna and this whole situation than she usually did and must be feeling happy about that.

For some reason it didn't bother him.

Yuan's room was dark, so Kratos scooped up a couple of pebbles before scaling the tree. He flicked one at Yuan's window, and then another, and then another, watching as Yuan jerked upright in his bed, wild-eyed, and looked at the window. Kratos grinned broadly and waved, letting the rest of his pebbles drop, not in the slightest bit deterred by Yuan's muttered "Fuck you," he heard distinctly through the glass.

He came over and hurled open the window, at any rate, with a disgruntled expression in his face. "Why can't you have your epiphanies and crises in daylight like any normal person, Kratos? Why?"

"I have no idea," Kratos said, shrugging as he slid in and stepped away from the sill. "It seems to work splendidly, so I shall not complain. Anna's forgiven me."

"_What?" _Yuan was suddenly wide awake and very, very riveted. "Anna? Seriously? When did you even _see _her again?"

"Just now. My mother and I just dropped her back off at her house," Kratos informed him.

"What did you do, Kratos?" Yuan asked, rubbing his forehead. He could tell this was shaping up to be one _hell _of a story.

"I went to her house and threw rocks at her window until she answered and persuaded her to come with me to meet my mother. She complied and we journeyed there with relative haste. I left her in my mother's company and went to my room, where, after ten minutes, Anna joined me and apologized, and I did likewise. We engaged in a small amount of conversation afterwards and then decided she should go home, so my mother offered to drive her. I came along and walked her up her driveway. She says I'm allowed at her lunch table now."

"_What? _You – seriously – threw rocks at her _window – _in the middle of the _night – _and hauled her out of bed – to go talk to your _mother _– and _drove _her home – wow. Just … wow. She forgave you? _Apologized? _Said you could sit with us at lunch?"

"Yes," Kratos confirmed patiently.

"Wow," Yuan said weakly. "I think I need to sit down." He sagged onto his bed. "So you and Anna aren't fighting anymore? She knows about your father?"

"Yes."

"That's good, then. Thanks for coming to tell me." Yuan looked pointedly at the window. "I don't suppose you're willing to let me get back to bed now?"

"Certainly."

Kratos left through the window, a smile on his face as he walked back to his house. Life was good enough. He'd never really asked for more.

--

"You … apologized to … Kratos Aurion," Raine summarized with difficulty, the syllables sounding awkward on her tongue as she deliberately framed them to sound as absurd as possible. "And he accepted. He apologized to _you. _He walked you up your driveway."

"Yes," Anna agreed, wrinkling her blanket absentmindedly as she laid on it. "He asked if he could sit at our lunch table at school and I told him he could, if he didn't mind putting up with Zelos, so I think he will on Monday. Can you believe it was just yesterday I dunked him in the pool?"

"I'm having more trouble believing that it was just last night you and Kratos made up with each other and agreed to a tentative friendship," Raine said faintly, looking dazed. "I'm not sure the world should be allowed to change so drastically while innocent citizens slumber."

Anna laughed. "Stop being so overdramatic. Do you want to come take Noishe for a walk with me?"

"Sure," Raine said, standing up and stretching. She hesitated. "So … Kratos? You're serious about this?"

"I am," Anna confirmed, face clear. "I'm positive that I'm doing the right thing, for once. Now come on. We can stop by Lloyd's room on the way and see if he and Genis are really doing their homework."

--


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This is what I have for today. I figured you'd rather have a shorter chapter than nothing, right? I prefer posting.**

**Enjoy. Thank you very, very, very, very much for the reviews, geekgirl4028 and Rydia Asuka.**

--

Yuan waltzed into English class like a tornado of blue, spewing papers and snatching them up as they fell out of his backpack, plopping down in the seat next to Anna and grinning like a madman at her, face flushed. Kratos followed behind him and came over despite Mr. Feather's frown and pointed cough. He was not an advocate of mingling, whether on students' own time or not.

"Morning," Yuan chirped, rummaging through his bag frantically for something.

"Good morning," Kratos intoned more sedately, standing perfectly straight, as always, and sending pointedly cool glances toward the curious classmates looking over, who had, through the gossip chain, _already _heard all about Zelos's pool party fiasco and the two principals of the event. "How was the rest of your weekend?"

"It was fine," Anna told him absently, looking over at Yuan with a worried frown as he showed no signs of coming up for air. "I hung out with Raine, Genis, and Lloyd for most of the day. How was yours?"

"Well enough. Martel coerced Mithos, Yuan, and I into accompanying her to the mall and I was forced to become her bag holder when Mithos and Yuan disappeared into the games and electronic store."

Anna laughed. "Well _enough? _It sounds like torture."

Kratos frowned. "It was. Especially when she loudly declared her intent to go shopping for intimate apparel and wanted me to judge how each piece looked."

A loud spluttering sound came from just below the desk top and a moment later Yuan's head appeared, face red and eyes feverishly burning. "_What?" _he demanded.

Kratos rolled his eyes. "A request which I obviously refused, Yuan. I have no desires in such a quarter, as I have frequently reiterated to you. She sulked for the rest of the afternoon and intensively questioned me about Anna, which I was hard-put to avoid or deny the large sum of. All in all, I suppose, it was a rather unpleasant experience."

"Yeah, yeah, suck it up, crybaby," Yuan rejoined, no longer interested in the thread of conversation. He swooped a hand down into his bag once more and, triumphantly, pulled out a package of something that looked like an overlarge envelope and brandished it in the air. "Guess what I happen to have _here, _Anna? Kratos?"

"A packet of photographs," Kratos informed him drily.

"Guess what they're photographs _of?"_

Anna had a sinking suspicion of where this was going. Unless they were photos of Martel in the nude, only one thing could bring Yuan such ample satisfaction … "They're photos from the pool party, right?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"Score," Yuan said gleefully, nodding and opening the packet with an expert flourish. "Guess what part of the pool party I _also _coincidentally happened to capture on camera?"

"The water fight," Kratos answered dully. Anna pointedly avoided looking at him.

"Brilliant deduction. Now, without further ado … I like to call it either _Foreplay Central _or _Kratos Gets What's Coming to Him. _Do you think I should use these for my photography class project?"

"If you dare, Yuan, you will be murdered in your sleep," Kratos whispered furiously, gripping onto his arm hard enough Anna knew it was going to leave a mark. "I know where you live. I _will _exact my retribution."

"Fine," Yuan sulked, shaking out of his grip. "Don't be an ass, Kratos. I was kidding. Just for that, the first picture I'm going to show Anna is the one with her pulling you down off the diving board. You have the most _hilarious _expression on your face. Seriously."

The bell rang and Mr. Feathers glared pointedly. "Tardy, Mr. Aurion. Mr. Kaafei, this is not show-and-tell time. Everyone, pull out your composition books. Write a paragraph about the importance of symbolism in short stories."

--

Yuan didn't mention the pictures on the walk to Honors Chemistry from English, which was good, because Kratos looked like he was still glowering over his tardy and the reminder of the public exhibition he had made of himself. Anna didn't particularly want to see Yuan get slammed into a locker or a horde of unsuspecting students and chip a tooth or something.

He left them at the door. "I'll show you the rest at lunch, Anna. I have some great ones of Sheena and Zelos. I bet he'll just love exactly how flattering her swimsuit was on her."

"Good luck on finding anyone to take you up on that wager," Anna snorted, looking around for Raine. Normally they ran into her in the hallway or she was in class by now.

"You'd be surprised." Yuan smirked. "Half the school think Zelos is secretly a closet gay in very deep denial, which would explain his flamboyancy and overemphasis on being attractive and sleeping around. I'm sure I could get someone to take me up on it."

"I'm sure some of our classmates have very sick minds," Anna countered, raising a hand as she leaned against the doorframe. "See you at lunch, Yuan."

"See you, Anna."

Raine didn't show up for Chem, so Anna had to partner with Kate, whose lab partner, Mark, was also missing. Kate was smart, if quiet, so they worked pretty well together, though Anna was distracted wondering about Raine. She had, after all, only seen her yesterday. Dirk had driven them to school today on his way to work, though, so she hadn't seen Raine on the bus. Had Raine forgotten to tell her about something or was she sick? Raine didn't have a cellphone, so she couldn't call that, though Anna did have her home phone number. Was Genis here?

Anna resolved to try and find out during lunch.

--

Kratos looked around the cafeteria and didn't see Anna at her usual table, where Zelos and Sheena were bickering, or, indeed, anywhere else in the cafeteria. Come to think of it, where was the silver-haired girl she always hung out with, the one who had been sitting next to her at the pool party?

He turned to Yuan, who was intently debating between an apple and a pudding cup. Attempting to justify, anyway. "Do you know where Anna and her friend might be?'

"Huh? Anna and Raine aren't here?" He turned, confused, and scanned the cafeteria for himself. "That's weird, they aren't. I haven't seen Raine all day, come to think of it, but Anna didn't say anything about going home early. Maybe she's going to the bathroom or the library?"

"Most likely," Kratos answered, more to assuage himself and his nebulous fears than to carry on a semblance of a normal conversation.

"So which do you think I should get: this apple or this pudding cup?"

--

Anna lingered by the water fountain she and Raine used as base when the lunchroom got to be too much to handle, waiting for the person on the other line to pick up as it kept ringing. The number was in her contact information, so she knew she had it right … and she'd stopped to peer in Lloyd's class on the way over, and though he'd smiled and waved, there had been no Genis, which further provoked her suspicions. Were they sick, then? Too sick to call or think about something like that?

Finally someone answered, sounding harried and harassed. "Hello, Sage residence, may I help you?"

"_Raine?" _Anna asked.

"Oh, it's you," Raine replied in a weary tone. "Thank heavens. Genis is sick and of course Mother is being no help whatsoever, and of _course _she forgot to pay all of the monthly bills and even though I sent them off in the mail the companies keep calling because they haven't received them yet and if I don't get to the phone first Mother answers it and starts screaming about how Father died and she's got a baby to take care of and it's just – "

"Raine?" someone's voiced asked heavily on the other side. "Are you there?"

"I'm coming, Genis," Raine called, and then came back on the phone. "I was just getting him a glass of water. Will you hold for a second, please?"

"Sure." Anna waited tensely while the sounds faded and there was a period of time broken by the low sounds of indistinguishable voices. She shifted against the lockers and glared back at a passing person who gave her a dirty look for, as far as she could tell, no reason at all. Maybe she was one of Kratos's fans and had heard about the debacle on Saturday.

Eventually Raine came back on, sounding a little out of breath. "Alright, he's dozed off. He's got a bad fever and occasionally hallucinates a little bit, but I don't think it's anything too serious. He has a stuffy nose but no cough, which is good, though he can't keep anything down but fluids yet. You're at lunch, correct? How are things going with Kratos? I don't hear any significant ambient noise, so I'm assuming you're not currently in the lunchroom?"

"Right." Anna pressed the phone to her ear and stared out the sunlit window. "Yuan apparently took pictures at the pool party, actually, so he's been in rather a foul mood all day, though he's been perfectly polite to me. Do you think Genis is contagious? Lloyd and I would love to stop by after school, but if you think that he's too ill to have visitors …"

"No, we'd like that," Raine answered, sounding cheered. "I think it might do it some good, and as far as I know it's only a minor bacterial infection. After school, then?"

"See you," Anna told her. "Take care of yourself, too."

Raine laughed. "Goodbye." There was a sound in the distance and she yelled, "No, Mother!" and hung up the phone.

--


End file.
